1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to radiation dosimetry techniques.
2. Background of the Technology
The measurement of neutrons and heavy charged particles (HCP) remains one of the most challenging tasks in radiation dosimetry. Among the most widely investigated and used passive detector technologies are: plastic nuclear track detectors (PNTD) based on CR-39 plastic and its derivatives, pairs of 6LiF and 7LiF thermoluminescent detectors (TLD) in an albedo configuration and superheated bubble detectors (SBD). See Benton et al., “Proton Recoil Neutron Dosimeter for Personnel Monitoring. Health Phys., 40, pp. 801-809 (1981); Piesch et al., “Albedo Dosimetry System for Routine Personnel Monitoring,” Radiat. Prot. Dosim., 23(1/4), pp. 117-120 (1988); d'Errico, “Radiation Dosimetry and Spectrometry with Superheated Emulsions,” Nuclear Instr. Meth. B, 184, pp. 229-254 (2001). TLDs have the strong neutron energy dependence and the difficulty in discriminating between radiations having low- and high linear energy transfer (LET). PNTDs have good neutron/gamma discrimination but require laborious wet-chemistry processing and have low saturation fluence. SBDs are very sensitive to neutrons but bulky and environmentally unstable. All these difficulties have stimulated the search for a new approach.